Alpha or Christianity for Beginners (Work in Progress)
Created | Updated Aug 28, 2003
The Alpha Course - a brief introduction to Christianity
The Alpha course is run by thousands of different churches worldwide as a basic introduction to the fundamental tenets of Christianity. It is open to all, although the content is aimed primarily at non-Christians1 who wish to find out more.
What happens if I sign up for one, then?
An Alpha course is often run on weekday evenings, starting around 7pm. It's usually held in some sort of hotel or conference centre.
The evening starts off with a meal, with everyone together. This is a chance for people to talk to each other about anything they want; discussing each other's day at work, or what so-and-so was doing on Eastenders2. It's so that everyone on the course can get to know each other.
After the meal, the group will move into a meeting room3. There's a chance for people to have a quick break before settling down and getting comfy for the rest of the evening.
Once everyone's sitting comfortably, the Alpha part of the evening begins. Usually this is in the form of worship, typically in the form of singing songs of praise to God. These aren't traditional hymns, although some are included occasionally, but more in the style of modern songs. The Christians running the group will usually put a projection of the lyrics onto a wall for everyone to see, but singing along is at each person's discretion4.
After worship (and a chance to refuel on coffee and biscuits), the real meat of the evening begins; the talk.
Alpha includes a series of talks about the central points of the Christian faith, and the group will run through one of these each week. These are:
Christianity: Boring, Untrue and Irrelevant?
Who is Jesus?
Why did Jesus die?
How can I be sure of my faith?
Why and how should I read the Bible?
Why and how should I pray?
How does God guide us?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
What does the Holy Spirit do?
How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
How can I make the most of the rest of my life?
How can I resist evil?
Why and how should I tell others?
Does God heal today?
What about the Church?
The 3 talks about the Holy Spirit form the basis of a weekend away, where there is much more discussion on these subjects.
After the talk, the group is then free to raise any points they wish about the subject. This can be minor points of disagreement with scripture or full disagreement with any or all aspects of what was said. If someone disagrees, they're asked to explain what they disagree with, and why. This type of discussion involves the whole group as people give their often varied opinions, and open discussion of all views are an encouraged and usually quite integral part of Alpha.
What happens at the end?
That's up to you. You can either have been convinced that Christianity is real, or you haven't found the arguments added up correctly for you.
If you decide that you believe, then you'll probably be welcome to join the church that ran the course, although it isn't compulsory.
If, on the other hand, you're still a definite non-believer, then that's OK too. You might get asked to explain what further proof you'd need to make you believe, but you won't be forced to agree to anything, and once you've explained your views, you'll get left alone.
If you still want more information on Christianity after Alpha, the best thing to do is talk to the Christians who helped out on the course. As yet, there aren't any "follow up" courses to Alpha5, so this is the best route.
